120 hours of energy saving per week!

Corné Smulders has been growing tomatoes for more than fifteen years. Over the past ten years his speciality has been prune tomatoes. And in recent years, Corné has dedicated a third of his nursery to growing a new variety sold under the brand: “Food Service Tomatoes”. He explains how ideal this tomato is for making sandwiches and salads – because it is robust and contains less liquid.

120 hours of energy saving per week
In 2001 Corné decided to install a new screen in his greenhouse. The high light transmission of the LUXOUS 1347 FR, noticeable by its extreme transparency, was the main reason for choosing the newly introduced Svensson screen. His goal was to save further energy with additional screening hours during daytime. He quickly discovered that his expectations were met. In 2005, when he was expanding his nursery with a new greenhouse, once again he chose LUXOUS 1347 FR. Keeping in mind that the greenhouse is filled with fully grown and evaporating tomato plants, and it’s February, the screen in the new nursery is used from about 18.00 through until 10.00 or 11.00 in the morning. This strategy results in about 120 hours of energy saving screen hours per week!

After 8 years of use, Corné believes the screen still transmits a lot of light. “Compared to screens of the same age at other local nurseries, my LUXOUS 1347 FR is still far more clear”. To make sure that this observation really meant good transparency, light measurements have been carried out. It turns out that after 8 years of usage, the light transmission of the screen has only decreased by 5%. And for the screen that was installed in 2005, this reduction is just 3%.

No cold showers
Another benefit Corné has discovered is the relative dryness of the screen. “When the screen is opened in the morning, there are no showers of condensation or drops of water falling from the screen onto the tomato crop”. Apart from the fact that this is more pleasant for the employees working in the greenhouse, the major benefit is the reduced risk of fungal diseases, such as botrytis. Visiting colleagues notice as well: “The climate does feel good under this closed screen”.